A powerful 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook northern Afghanistan before dawn on Monday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 300 others, a health official said.
Sharafat Zaman, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Public Health, provided the updated death and injury toll.
The US Geological Survey said the quake’s epicentre was located 22km (14 miles) west-southwest of the town of Khulm, and that it struck at 12.59am at a depth of 28km.
The USGS issued an orange alert in its PAGER system, which is an automated system that produces information on the impact of earthquakes, and indicated that “significant casualties are likely, and the disaster is potentially widespread”.
Yousaf Hammad, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s disaster management agency, said most of the injured suffered minor wounds and were discharged after receiving initial treatment.
Comments are closed.